RAF Personal in Palembang POW
 Camps 1942 to 1945

For more information on the Deployment of the RAF in
 the Malay and Dutch East Indies,
click on the link to Ronnies “Britain at War” page below.

By mid January it was clear that the Japanese advance meant that the transfer of air units needed to be accelerated, on the 19th of January the Duch Squadron at Kallang was withdrawn to the Dutch East Indies and was designated to act as cover for future withdrawls from Singapore through the Bangka Strait.

On the 22nd January, 2 Netherlands Squadrons withdrew to Java

On the 23rd - 27th January, Numbers 27, 34 and 62 Squadrons except for a small ground crew party, were transferred to Sumatra, as were the main parties of Number 1 and 8 Squadrons, RAAF

On the 30th of January, Sir Archibald Wavell approved A.H.Q plans to retain in Singapore only a fighter strength of eight Hurricanes reinforced by the remaining Buffaloes, along with an Air Stores Park, a Repair and Salvage Unit and an Ammunition Park
.
 The further reinforcements of Hurricanes arriving with HMS Indomitable, would be based in Palembang, Sumatra.

HQ  decided, due to the Japanese advance towards Singapore, that the Bomber units would be relocated to Sumatra.

151 M.U. was ordered to move to Java, leaving behind the repair and salvage party in Singapore.
.
226 (F) Group HQ was set up in Palembang, the Aircraft and
support personal were located at two airfields, Pangkalan Benteng (P1), some 10 Km North of Palembang and Prambumulih (P2), some 51 Km South West of Palembang. 

Number 226 Fighter Group RAF arrived in Palembang, early
February, transported to Sumatra by aircraft carrier with two
Squadrons of Hawker Hurricanes, they were joined by the
remnants of British, Australian and New Zealand squadrons from
Malay and Singapore with Hurricanes and Brewster Buffalo
 aircraft.


Bristol Beaufort
(Click on the Bristol Beufort to View Documentary)

Hawker Hurricane


Bristol Buffalo

Lockheed Hudson

There was also a large contingent of the Royal Netherlands East
Indies Army stationed at Palembang
.
 P2 Airfield Palembang, Sumatra

The Battle of Palembang

The main objective of the Japanese invasion of the Dutch East
Indies, was to secure oil supplies. Palembang was a prime target
due to the location of the large oil refineries at Pladjoe.

On the 13th of February, Japanese paratroopers landed at P1
airfield , the road linking P1 and Palembang and the oil refinery.
The Japanese failed to take the P1 airfield but managed to seize the
oil refinery, a counter-attack by the Netherlands army retook the
oil refinery but failed in an attempt to destroy it to prevent it being
captured intact.
The main Japanese invasion force was made up of an amphibious
assault fleet that had sailed from Cam Rahn Bay in French
Indochina.

Capturing Bagka Island the Japanese mounted their assault on
Palembang, Allied aircraft attacked the landing force, sinking one
transport ship and strafing others.
 
  Account by Flight Sergeant Patrick Anderson

On the 15th February, all aircraft were ordered to fly to Java.
The ground crews and other personal were ordered to southern
Sumatra and were evacuated from Oosthaven to Java

 Battle of Palembang        

 Battle of Palembang video

 The Japanese Airborne Assault on P1 Aerodrome

The men captured or surrendered, became the first POW s to be
held in Palembang.
 

The realisation that Singapore was going to fall into Japanese hands
resulted in senior commanders issuing orders for the evacuation of
personnel and civilians. some were directed to the escape route
across Sumatra to Padang.


Escape route across Sumatra

Others boarded ships headed for Java, these ran into the Invasion
force of the Japanese in the Bangka Straight, most of these ships
 were either sunk or captured. 

Escape route across Sumatra in Yellow
Evacuation route through Bangka Strait in Red

  Pilot Office R G Yongs Account

Michael Pether has done a tremendous amount of work on
the evacuation ships that left Singapore On the
13th of February 1942

 Evacuation Ships

Along with the men captured in Palembang and the RAF personal
captured during the evacuation of Singapore, men started arriving
in 1944 from the Dai Itchi camp at Pangkalan Bali, these men were
 originally in the Java Party 19 and were sent to Sungei Geron camp in
Palembang suffering from severer dysentery and other tropical
diseases, sadly, due to the diminishing supply of medicines and the
shear exhaustion of the surgeons, Reed and Corcoran, many of
these men died in Sungei Geron camp in Palembang and are
included in the Roll. The Surviving men from Dai Itchi were
transported to Singapore and were released from there at the end
of the war.

The personnel capture in southern Sumatra were imprisoned in
Palembag in Chung Wa School and Mulo School. The personnel
capture during the evacuation of Singapore, when their ships were
either sunk or captured in the Bangka Strait were held in Muntok
on Bangka Island, some worked on an Airfield and then they were
transported to the Palembang camps. The senior RAF Officer was
Air Commodore Modin.

In early 1944 the POWs began moving to a new camp,
Sungei Geron, outside of Palembang, the men were billeted in
Attap Huts. Conditions in Sungei Geron were far worse than the
previous camps, now contact with the native Sumatrans was more
difficult and severally limited the men’s opportunities for trading
with them.
 
An unusual prisoner in the Sungei Geron camp was Peter Henry John Elsee,
of the No 3 Film Production Unit SEAAF, captured on the 13th of
August 1945 and released on the 18th of September 1945, just 28
days in captivity.

Eight Men flew out of Java in two Vildebeest aircraft when the
Netherlands army surrendered to the Japanese on the 8th of March
 1942
.

Vickers Vildebeest

 One plane crash landed on Bencoolen, Sumatra  five of
the men were captured and taken to the POW camp in Sumatra,
the other  three men were lost presumed drowned

Flying Officer Lamb
Flying Officer Callick
Warrent Officer Peck.

On July the 18th 1942 a first draft of men were shipped to
 Singapore then onto Taiwan, with some ending up in
Japan.

  1st Draft from Palembang to Singapore

Fleet Air Arm

The British Pacific Fleet was formed in 1944, but the logistics of
operating a open Ocean carrier operation that the Americans had
developed meant that the British fleet auxiliaries capable of
supplying this type of operation had to be created from scratch.
After discussions with The American Admiral, Chester Nimitz,
who suggested the British Pacific Fleet attack the oil refineries at
Palembang,  Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser agree, reasoning it would be
a chance to prove its effectiveness.
At 6:15 the attack commenced, with Corsairs, Firefly and
Avengers aircraft.

.
  

Fleet Air Arm Corsair
 

Firefly

Fleet Air Arm Avengers

Part of the operation was simultaneous attacks on the Japanese airfields, code named “Ramrod” to try and eliminate the Japanese aircraft on the ground.

“Ramrod Attack on Japanese Airfields”
(Click on picture to enlarge)

The air attacks on the oil refineries was successful, production at
Pladjoe and Sungei Geron was stopped until the end of March, the
refineries never again reached full production. The British Pacific
Fleet gained valuable experience, which they carried with them for
 the rest of the war, but it came with a terrible price of lost airmen,
some killed outright in the attacks but some were shot down and
survived nine others were captured by the Japanese and handed
over to the Kempi Tai, they were later transferred to Singapore
where they were executed.

The Palembang Nine Plaque at  St Bartholomews Church in
Yeovilton 

Lt. John Haberfield - Pilot from 1839 Fighter Squadron
(HMS Indomitable)
Lt. Evan John Baxter - Pilot from 1833 Fighter Squadron
(HMS Illustrious)
S/Lt. Reginald James Shaw - Pilot from 1833 Fighter Squadron
(HMS Illustrious)
Lt. Kenneth Morgan Burrenston - Crew from 849 TBR
Squadron (HMS Victorious)
S/Lt. John Robert Burns - Crew from 849 TBR Squadron
(HMS Victorious)
S/Lt. Donald V Roebuck - Crew from 849 TBR Squadron
(HMS Victorious)
S/Lt. William Edwin Lintern - Crew from 849 TBR Squadron
(HMS Victorious)
Petty Officer Ivor Barker - Crew from 849 TBR Squadron
(HMS Victorious)
Petty Officer J S McRae - Crew from 849 TBR Squadron
(HMS Victorious)

The Palembang strikes Operation Meridian

Naval History Society Australia Operation Meridian

HMS Illustrious Roll of Honour

The Palembang raids resulted in a few bombs falling on the
Sungei Geron camp, none of the POWs were injured but one
Japanese guard was hit by shrapnel,  the POWs cheered the raid,
this infuriated the Japanese resulting in the Royal Navy men being
lined up, the Japanese demanded the ringleaders to come forward,
no one move so the Japanese guards walked along the men lined up
 beating them with belt buckles, as the day dragged on one man
stepped forward to take the blame, he revived a sever beating, but
survived. In May 1945, the rest of the men from Dahi Itchi arrived,
on route to Singapore. Joining them were most of the senior
officers, including Commander Wills Sandford RAF and some
other ranks, taking over as the camp senior officer was
Captain Corrie.

Japanese Surrender

Dark days followed, rations were cut, men started to fall into
depression, desperately seeking for anything to eat, it seemed as if
the Japanese were trying eliminate the men.
Including the sick men from Dhai Itchi, the death rate increased
dramatically, the men could not hold out much longer, an Officer
had been informed the on the 27th of August the men were to be
herded into a stockade and massacred.

In late August, camp working parties ceased, there was a notable
change of attitude of the Japanese guards towards the POWs, one
day the men were ordered to parade, the Japanese Commandant ,
Takahashi addressed the men through the interpreter, “Today we
 are all friends” , no acknowledgement that the war was over , it
was up to Captain Corrie to confirm it, the war was finally over.  

Supplies began to arrive including desperately needed medicines
found in a warehouse, unfortunately it was too late for some men.
Some men from the RAMC, Captain Fordyce and Captain Mockler
 were parachuted in with additional medical supplies and food,
undoubtedly they save many lives.

On the 17th of September, Commander J V Briggs RNVR along
with Lieutenant Commander S Jenkins Liaison officer to Recovery
 of Allied Prisoners of War and Internees (R.A P W I  )and
 Lieutenant Commander Spawl for war crimes investigation duties.
 Flying to Padang then onto  Palembang, Commander Briggs was
sent to investigate the best ways to evacuate the men from the
camp back to Singapore, there were ships available, but he had to
make sure the river and the Bangka Strait were clear of mines and
he asked the Japanese for maps of any mining in those areas, he
sent this report back to Singapore but was informed that plans to
evacuate the men was to be carried out by aircraft
(Dakota’s primarily).

Lady Louis Mountbatten arrived to tour the Hospital and camps
and also to offer any help in organising the evacuation, she noted
in her diary

 "I spent nearly a week in Sumatra , the Japanese did what we
told them and we eventually succeeded in the evacuation of
British , Australian and India prisoners by boat and also by
Dakota aircraft flown from hastily improvised airstrips , on the
whole the evacuation went extraordinarily well considering the
vast area covered , in Sumatra we evacuated all the Prisoners of
war without a single allied soldier landed or the Navy lying off
shore , luckily it worked and there is no doubt that had the war
gone on just a few more weeks there would not have been any
Prisoners of war left alive , they were absolutely on their last
gasp and the tragedy is that so many did die in the last few weeks
 before surrender and even after it."

From Singapore the men would have been repatriated

It is a sad statistic that out of the 251 RAF, RAAF and RNZAF personal evacuating from Singapore or in the Palembang Camps, 105 or 41% of them died..
 

Ronnies FEPOW Family Repatriation page
 Repatriation

RAF Units in the Palembang Camps

Research Notes

Thanks to
Jonathan Moffatt
Ronnie Taylor
Michael Pether

FEPOW Family Website
COFEPOW Website
Malay Volunteers
Muntok Memorial Peace Museum

WO 361/1948
WO 361/1947
WO 361/1946
WO 208/4286

Books

Unsung Heroes of the Royal Airforce by Les and Pam Stubbs
Prisoner of Nippon                              by Ray Stubbs
No Bamboo for Coffins                       by David Elio Roberts
Singapores Dunkirk                             by Geoffrey Brooke

Kevin Snowdon 2024
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